Chapter Text
It took quite a while for anyone to realize that anything was wrong. Not even Shang Qinghua noticed any real difference during the first few weeks, other than the creeping feeling that he was forgetting something important. Although, that wasn’t all to strange for him. He chalked it up to some paper he’d forgotten to send or sign and decided he’d figure it out when consequences knocked down his door.
That was, until a certain peak lord meeting where Qi Qingqi commented on Shen Qingqiu being a lecher and Shang Qinghua simply responded
“No he isn’t?” All eyes turned to him, so he panicked and rambled as he struggled to explain himself.
“I mean- if anything, he seems to be more respectful of women than men! I specifically send little girls on missions with him because I know he has a soft spot for them. Not in a creepy way though! He treats them like a father treats his daughters! One of my youngest disciples even told me he told her to go directly to me or him if a man touched her inappropriately, even if that man was another peak lord!”
The whole room just gaped at Shang Qinghua for a moment
“You idiot! You know he goes to brothels weekly, and you let him alone with little girls! Are you insane!” Qi Qingqi raged, burn bursting from her forehead. Shang Qinghua squeaked
“B-But he only goes to brothels to sleep! Literally! He would rather kill himself than take advantage of a prostitute! They are like sisters to him!” Shen Qingqiu’s brow furrowed
“How do you know that?” Yue Qingyuan questioned seriously. The room, previously in uproar, went quiet
“I-“ Shang Qinghua tried to explain but his brain went blank. How did he know? He had to have figured this out somehow, after all he had framed a lot of his interactions with Shen Qingqiu off of this assumption. So where did he get these facts?
“Shang Shixiong?” Mu Qingfang asked. Shang Qinghua blinked.
“Answer the question,” Shen Qingqiu demanded
Shang Qinghua looked at the room, at a loss for words. He wondered what else he knew that he had no memory of learning. How much did he know about his martial siblings that they had never shared. Why had he never questioned this before? Why had he been so confident in these things if he had no reason to believe them?
He had been working under the assumption that the sect leader and the Qing Jing peak lord where ex slaves since they ascended. How could he possibly know that?
Shang Qinghua jolted back to reality from his thoughts when a soft stream of qi entered his meridians. He turned to see Mu Qingfang crouched beside him looking quite concerned
“Can you hear me?” He started, only continuing when Shang Qinghua nodded “You were close to deviation. Do you know what triggered this?”
Shang Qinghua looked around at his martial siblings, who were mostly whispering amongst themselves and stealing suspicious glances his way. Shen Qingqiu was staring at him directly and without pretense.
“Something is deeply wrong,” Shang Qinghua spoke without thinking, words tumbling out as he met Shen Qingqiu’s eyes. “How do I know secrets you’d never tell?”